Rose Tyler's life is turned upside-down when she encounters murderous
living mannequins in the basement of the department store where she works.
She is saved by a mysterious man who calls himself “the
Doctor”. With the reluctant help of her boyfriend, Mickey, Rose
delves deeper into the mystery of the Doctor, and in the process uncovers
a threat to the entire world: the Nestene Consciousness has returned and
once again seeks to dominate the Earth.

Production

The dawn of the twenty-first century was perhaps the bleakest period in
Doctor Who's storied history. Unlike the years spanning the
broadcast of Survival and the Doctor Who telefilm, during which a party
interested in a Doctor Who revival seemed to lurk around every
corner, the property now appeared virtually dead as a television
concern.

There was, nonetheless, the occasional furtive sign of hope. In 1999,
Russell T Davies was briefly attached to a revival referred to in places
as Doctor Who 2000. Davies had written the Doctor Who: The New
Adventures novel Damaged Goods in 1996 but was best-known as
the creator of the controversial drama programme Queer As Folk,
as well the 1991 science-fiction series Dark Season. Two years
later, Dan Freedman, producer of BBC Online's first Doctor Who
webcast, Death Comes To Time, was reported to be championing a
new series in which the focus would be on a Time Lord called the
Minister of Chance, who had been introduced in the audio play and who
would serve as the Doctor's successor.

Russell T Davies' 1999 Doctor
Who revival was scuppered when BBC Films began to develop a
movie

It appeared, however, that the BBC was now focussing on developing
Doctor Who as a feature film. Davies' project had been scuppered
when BBC Films engaged Paul Anderson (director of movies such as Mortal
Kombat and Event Horizon) and his production partner Jeremy
Bolt, working in association with Artisan Entertainment, to develop such a
movie. And while BBC Films parted company with Anderson and Bolt several
months later, efforts continued over the next several years to bring
Doctor Who to the big screen.

Finally, in 2003, the patience of the BBC's television wing wore out. With
BBC Films making no headway with Doctor Who, BBC1 Controller
Lorraine Heggessy arranged for the property to fall once again under her
aegis. The man entrusted with spearheading the series was Russell T
Davies, whose stock had continued to grow since 1999 with such
well-received programmes as Bob & Rose and The Second
Coming. He had quietly resumed lobbying the BBC to revive Doctor
Who around early 2002. Joining Davies as executive producers
were Mal Young, BBC Controller of Continuing Drama Series, and Julie
Gardner, Head of Drama for BBC Wales. BBC Wales would in fact be the
production home of the new series, as part of an overall effort by the BBC
to decentralise its traditionally London-based television production; this
was particularly attractive for Davies, himself a Welshman. Heggessy
confirmed the return of Doctor Who in an interview published on
September 26th, 2003.

This was just the start of a long road back to the screen for Doctor
Who, however. The first task was to assemble the key creative team.
Most notably, Phil Collinson was announced as the producer at the start of
2004; his previous credits had included Peak Practice, Born And
Bred, and the supernatural drama Sea Of Souls. Shortly
thereafter, it was revealed that Davies would be scripting the premiere
episode of the new series himself. Amongst other writers contacted about
the series was Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who declined the
invitation because she was too busy working on the sixth Potter
novel.

By this time, it was clear that the production team was planning to bring
Doctor Who back to its roots as a family programme which could
entertain the adults while still spooking the younger members of the
audience. Nonetheless, the new series would not be a “reboot”
of the original continuity: the title character would be the Ninth Doctor,
and other familiar aspects of the classic series would be retained. This
ethos was laid out in a pitch document developed by Davies, which also
introduced the new companion, Rose Tyler, as well as supporting characters
such as Rose's mother Judy (subsequently renamed Jackie) and boyfriend
Muggsy (later Mickey). Davies further suggested that the robot dog, K·9,
might be reintroduced during the season as an additional companion for the
Doctor and Rose, but this idea did not come to fruition.

On March 20th, the BBC announced that the new Doctor would
be played by Christopher Eccleston

Meanwhile, as the principal crew started to take shape, the most important
task facing the production team was the search for a lead actor. Amongst
the performers approached by Davies was Hugh Grant, star of films such as
Four Weddings And A Funeral and Love, Actually. Grant had
played an incarnation of the Doctor in the 1999 Comic Relief spoof The
Curse Of Fatal Death, but turned down the role this time and was never
seriously in the running. One star who was widely touted as a top
contender was Bill Nighy, who had also appeared in Love, Actually
as well as other movies including Underworld. The Daily Mail
even reported Nighy's casting on March 20th... but on the very same day,
the BBC announced that the new Doctor would in fact be played by
Christopher Eccleston.

Eccleston had worked with Davies on The Second Coming, and had
specifically requested that Davies consider him for Doctor Who
(although Young had already suggested him as a potential series star).
Eccleston felt the series would provide him with a vehicle to shatter the
perception of him as an actor interested only in serious dramatic roles:
he was best-known for drama programmes such as Cracker and Our
Friends In The North. He also counted a number of film credits to his
name, such as the Oscar-winning Elizabeth, cult favourite
Shallow Grave, summer blockbuster Gone In Sixty Seconds,
supernatural thriller The Others, the David Cronenberg
science-fiction movie eXistenZ, and zombie horror 28 Days
Later. Eccleston had been asked to audition for the Doctor Who TV movie, but had declined as he was
not interested in associating himself with such an established franchise
at the time.

For the new Doctor's costume, it was agreed that a more low-key approach
would be taken than for previous incarnations of the Time Lord, with a
battered leather jacket being the signature piece of apparel. Although
this image was suggested by Davies' pitch document, it was also reflective
of Eccleston's desire to ensure that his clothes would not dominate his
performance.

Billie Piper rode the wave of teenage pop princesses to
the top of the British charts in 1998

With the Doctor cast, attention now turned to finding an actress to
portray Rose. Davies and his team finally settled on Billie Piper, who had
ridden the wave of teenage pop princesses to the top of the British charts
beginning in 1998. Born Leian Piper (her first name being legally changed
by her parents while she was still an infant), her ambition had always
been acting rather than singing, however, and in 2003 -- two years after
abandoning her music career -- she found acclaim with a role in The
Canterbury Tales. She subsequently appeared with Orlando Bloom in
The Calcium Kid and was starring in the horror movie Spirit
Trap (alongside Sam Troughton, grandson of the Second Doctor, Patrick
Troughton) when it was announced to the press on May 24th that she would
be playing Rose -- after whom the first episode of the new series had been
named. This title was a further contraction of the name which had appeared
on Davies' contract -- “Rose Meets The Doctor” -- which itself
was abbreviated from Davies' pitch document description of the episode,
“Rose meets the Doctor, and the journey begins”.

Soon thereafter, two other key roles were filled. First, playing Jackie
Tyler would be Camille Coduri. Coduri had gotten her start in theatre
before collecting a number of roles in both movies and television,
including the feature films Nuns On The Run and King Ralph.
Noel Clarke, meanwhile, won the role of Mickey Smith. Recipient of the
2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer on the
basis of his work in Where Do We Live, Clarke had also appeared in
TV series such as the relaunched Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and
Metrosexuality.

At around the same time, the director of the first recording block --
comprising Rose, Aliens Of London
and World War Three -- joined the
programme. This was Keith Boak, who had directed episodes of series such
as Holby City and The Knock. Davies, meanwhile, had hewed
largely to his original pitch outline in scripting Rose, including
the return of the Nestene Consciousness and their Auton servants from Spearhead From Space and Terror Of The Autons. The Autons appealed to
Davies due to the iconic imagery of their original Seventies appearances,
and also because their nature would allow Rose to spend much of the
episode dubious of the alien origins of the threat.

July 18th marked the first UK recording for Doctor Who in 15 years

Boak began recording scenes for the new programme on July 18th in Cardiff,
marking the first time episodes of Doctor Who were being taped in
the UK in almost fifteen years. Work on Rose began on the 20th at
Howell's department store, posing as Henrik's. Recording on the 21st and
22nd involved the Auton attack on the shopping mall, which took place
around the Queen's Arcade. Cast and crew then moved to London for five
days. Various landmarks were visited on the 26th and 27th -- most notably
the London Eye -- while the next three days were spent at Brandon Estate,
which served as the location of the Tylers' flat.

August 2nd and 3rd saw taping move back to Cardiff and the basement of the
University Hospital of Wales, for scenes set in the cellar of Henrik's.
August 4th was a studio day, involving material at the Tylers' apartment;
as with most studio scenes for the new Doctor Who series, recording
took place at Unit Q2, a warehouse in Newport. On August 22nd, La Fosse
restaurant stood in for Tizzano's Pizza Restaurant. The venue for the
subsequent three days was the disused Ely paper mill, the site of the
Nestene's lair. Lack of time at this location forced the abandonment of a
sequence in which the Mickey whom Rose initially comes across turns out to
be a second Auton duplicate. It is this faux-Mickey who betrays the
existence of the Doctor's secreted vial of antiplastic, inciting the
Nestene Consciousness' anger. The real Mickey would then have been
revealed, still imprisoned.

August 26th saw the alleyway scene recorded at the Hayes, and then the
start of four studio days which also encompassed September 1st, 2nd and
6th. More scenes set at the Tylers' were recorded at this time, as well as
those at Mickey's, Clive's, and in the TARDIS. This should have marked the
end of production on Rose, but Block One had fallen badly behind
schedule, resulting in an extra week being given to the episodes.

Consequently, recording continued on September 8th: Taff Terrace in
Grangetown was the location of Clive's house, while Channel View Flats was
the site of the stairway in the Tylers' estate. The next day involved
material behind the pizzeria, which was actually on the grounds of the
Cardiff Royal Infirmary. More Henrik's footage was captured at Marks &
Spencer on September 10th; this was also the first of two consecutive
studio days. Additional recording on the 11th involved the elevator scene,
set at BBC Broadcasting House in Llandaff.

Promotion began in earnest when the BBC aired the first
teaser trailer on New Year's Day 2005

Model work then occurred from September 14th to 16th at the BBC Model Unit
Stage in London. Soon thereafter, however, it was realised that the rapid
pace of the editing meant that Rose was underrunning. Davies
extended the scene where the Doctor and Rose walk from her flat to the
TARDIS, and this material was taped (as part of Block Two, including The End Of The World and The Unquiet Dead) on October 18th at Lydstep
Flats in Gabalfa. On November 10th, supplementary footage of Jackie in her
bedroom was captured at HTV Wales' Studio 1 in Culverhouse Cross.

Serious promotional efforts on the part of the BBC began in earnest on
New Year's Day 2005, when the first teaser trailer -- which had been
posted on the BBC's Doctor Who website a month earlier -- was
screened. Additional teasers followed on March 8th, with the first full
trailer broadcast on the 15th. The BBC also launched its redesigned
Doctor Who website on March 8th; on March 23rd, this was
inventively joined by a subsite intended to be a “real”
version of Clive Finch's site. BBC2 held a Doctor Who theme night
on March 19th, screening documentaries and even a Doctor Who
edition of the quiz show Mastermind.

But perhaps the most potent publicity for Doctor Who came on
March 5th. On this day, an employee of a company associated with the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation -- which had secured the transmission
rights in Canada -- leaked a copy of Rose onto the Internet,
exactly three weeks in advance of its premiere date. Although the employee
was subsequently fired, the result was an unprecedented storm of press and
public attention paid to Doctor Who.

Rose was broadcast on March 26th, and secured an average audience
of 10.8 million viewers -- the highest tally for Doctor Who since a
strike-bolstered The Creature From The Pit
in 1979, when the television landscape was much less competitive. Perhaps
even more impressively, its audience appreciation figure of 76% was the
best in the programme's history to that point. Doctor Who's
extended and sometimes interminable hiatus from television screens had
ended not with a whimper, but with a very, very loud bang.